As a quick reminder: the kids have been sent to bed, not knowing the toughness of the challenge that has been assigned to them by Mo. This chapter is a bit longer and a lot more action is contained within!
The Battle of Violet
As the kids got to the top of the stairs to their room, Phil noticed a framed article that had been cut out of a newspaper. It was covered in a thin layer of dust, as if Mo had specifically avoided it when he cleaned. The article was a short piece with a photo next to it, but through the dust it was hard to read or make out a face.
"Go ahead, wipe it. It's about time someone did", said Mo, who was standing at the bottom, watching him with a glass of whiskey in his hand.
Phil cleaned the glass with a quick swipe of his sleeve. The headline read "
Tragedy strikes as brave rangers save city from rampaging Charizard", and the picture was of Mo and Houndoom. He looked young and tired. His clothes were torn and he had cuts in places. He held his head in his hands, Houndoom sitting in front of him hanging its head.
"Come on, get to bed and I'll tell you what that's all about", as Mo indicated he was going to piss.
Shortly thereafter the kids were in their bunks, patiently waiting as their grandfather got himself some alcohol, again.
"Rampaging Charizard? Man, that sounds like a crazy experience. From the small amount that I had time to read it was somewhere in Johto, I didn't get the chance to catch the name of the actual place though", said a curious Phil to his sister.
"Yeah but I mean it's not all that impressive to beat one Charizard. Many trainers could do that", replied Faye. She didn't see what the big deal was about.
Mo walked in, clearly having listened. The kids groaned, they hated that!
"Actually, it is impressive to beat one Charizard, no matter who you are. They can be very dangerous. In this case though, Charizard was meant in the plural form. You can't say 'Charizards', it's ugly and wrong. Now, let me tell you about that day"...
The old man began his tale, but was lost deep in thought as he did so.
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Mo caught the Hoothoot egg just inches from the ground, having had to dive to get it. He climbed up the tree and put it back in the nest.
"That was lucky wasn't it Noctowl?" he joked at the huge, odd bird. It hooted happily in thanks, and he jumped down again, Houndoom waiting at the bottom. "Yes yes I know Liza's waiting and we're in a rush, but Violet City isn't too far anymore. From there we'll be able to get to Charicific Valley in no time and finally find out what this is all about". Houndoom just sighed.
A few hours later they arrived at the Pokemon Center. It acted as the HQ for the rangers in the region, and he made sure to call the boss. Elita was pleased to hear he had arrived. However, there was bad news. "We sent Kellyn in to either meet you or go ahead. It seems he got impatient and went on to the valley without you. Have a short rest but please carry on as soon as you can. He has not been responding to calls on his Styler – we're worried!"
Mo didn't even bother to reply, instead calling Houndoom and leaving immediately. He was 23 years old, and he would never be the same again.
He got to the Pokemon Gym and called Folkner, who was busy fighting off a challenger's Chikorita. "Falkner! I need to speak to you right now!"
"Can't you see that I'm busy?", asked the gym leader. "Come back later!"
"Aren't you listening? This is important! Forget the badge, give it to the lad! You suck anyway!"
"But he doesn't deserve it!" cried Falkner, sick of being seen as one of the weakest gym leaders in the history of mankind.
"Do it! Don't make me force you my friend!"
Falkner gave up. He recalled his Pokemon and forfeited the match. "Here kid, you were lucky I needed to forfeit. Have the badge, but remember that until you've beaten me properly I will not respect you".
"Yes sir, thanks anyway though," replied the kid delighted. He was lucky and he knew it.
"This had better be good Mo, I swear".
"I need to borrow Pidgeot," stated Mo.
"What? What for?"
"I have to get to Charicific as quickly as possible. Your Pidgeot is fast and reliable. Please say yes. I'll bring him back I promise."
Falkner sighed. "Alright. But don't let anything happen to him! Here's his Pokeball".
"You know I don't need that", said Mo. Falkner released the Pidgeot and Mo climbed on, Houndoom curling up in front of him. "Okay Pidgeot go, as fast as you can!".
The Pidgeot beat its wings strongly and Mo clung on for dear life as the acceleration nearly knocked him off. They soared into the sky, flying approximately 300 meters from the ground, Houndoom peaking over the edge and enjoying the view. That way it was safe from attack but they could still see what was going on on the ground. Very quickly Mo realized something was wrong in Charicific National Park: although it was late and starting to get dark, a strong glow was coming from the distance.
Fire, thought Mo. The fire coming from practicing Charizard was usually never this bright. "Faster Pidgeot!"
Pidgeot landed near Liza's hut and Mo and Houndoom jumped off. Pidgeot shivered a little. "It's alright Pidgeot. Fly around and see if you can find any humans; be ready for me though!". Glad to be leaving the area, it complied swiftly and flew up high.
The two heroes ran to the hut and ripped open the door, but there was no one there. Neither Ash's or her Charizard were there, nor was there any sign of Kellyn or Liza. Just then, they heard Pidgeot shriek. They ran out and saw a Charizard slashing violently at it. The bird was hopelessly outmatched and Mo wished he had brought the Pokeball to protect his friend's Pokemon. Instead, he took out his styler and launched it up, hoping to calm the aggressor this way. He got ready to do the right moves. Instead, another Charizard appeared and used its wings to smash the styler to pieces.
"This is not good," he thought, realizing that this was probably exactly what had happened to Kellyn – hence the lack of communication. He wished he had his Gyarados or Luxray with him. Houndour wouldn't get hurt by fire attacks, but Charizard were more than mere fire-breathers. "Houndoom use Dark Pulse to distract them from Pidgeot for a bit!"
A black and purple ball of energy formed in front of Houndoom's mouth for a split second before he fired it off. The Dark Pulse caused quite a lot of damage and made the Charizard flinch as it got hit by surprise and crashed into the ground below. "Pidgeot come here and pick us up!"
It swooped down and they jumped onto the moving bird, before flying away at high speed. "Fly low through the narrow cliffs so that they can't see us!" ordered Mo, the bird once again complying to what was obviously the best course of action. Pidgeot zigzagged through narrow passages in the labyrinth of mini-canyons. Mo balanced himself by putting an arm through Pidgeot's collar and tapped on a button on his special wrist-watch. It was fitted with his cellphone from his traveling days but it still did the job and the speed dial was on Elita's number. Her phone was ringing and after several close calls with boulders jutting out of the cliff-face she finally picked up.
"Mo? Why are you using your phone?"
"Not time", he gasped as a flame missed his head by inches from behind. "but Kellyn's styler is most certainly broken too! We need lots water-based back-up here, and we need it fast! Something's up with the Charizard! I think-".
Just then, Pidgeot screamed as another flamethrower hit its side full on. It tucked in its wings, barely conscious and in extreme pain, bracing for the crash. Mo realized his mistake as he untangled his arm from the collar – he didn't have time to get off before they all hit the ground. With a sickening crack the bird smashed the hard stone floor and Mo and Houndoom went flying over its head, thrown thirty feet before they started to roll. Both struggled to get up and looked up into the sky. Hovering above them was the Charizard who had attacked them before. It seemed to be enjoying the moment as it got ready for the kill. Suddenly, another Charizard, moving at a very high speed, grabbed it from the side and flew up high into the sky, holding onto it as it struggled to escape, before turning around and crashing into the ground.
Mo almost smiled. "I've seen that Seismic Toss before," he said aloud. The rescuing Charizard stood over the now crippled attacker and stomped on its head to make sure it was out for the count, before walking over to Mo and greeting him with a cheeky-looking grin. "Thanks so much for your help. We would have been dead!". Just then, he remembered. "Oh no! Pidgeot!".
He and Houndoom ran over to the downed bird. It had lost nearly all the feathers in its side and the beak was cracked, but it was breathing. "I can't believe I failed Falkner!".
As he thought about what to do next, Charizard gave a small grunt and indicated that they should climb on. Mo decided to trust Ash's old Charizard, hoping that it had not gone berserk like the others. He was about to ask what to do about Pidgeot when Charla arrived – easily recognizable with her little pink bow on her head – and gently picked him up, flying ahead with the bird in her claws. They flew for only a minute or two before arriving in a cave located in a dark trench, where Liza welcomed them. Mo hopped off with Houndoom, eager to take care of Pidgeot. He took out a Burn Heal and some potions and applied them with Liza's help on the now raw skin where feathers had been, and bandaged the beak in such a way that it would not get worse. Fixing would have to wait.
No one had spoken a word yet in fear of being heard by the other Charizard. They had heard the commotion and found their friend defeated. They were on the warpath and looking in all the hideouts they had been shown by Liza when there had been peace. It was lucky she had always kept one for herself. Ash's Charizard and Charla stood quietly, listening for the slightest hint of trouble.
After a short time Kellyn arrived on a badly burned Fearow, and the two nodded at each other before tending to Fearow's wounds. Both were relieved to see the other alive.
The group sat in the cave, waiting for the Charizard to calm their search and stop swooping around their area, which they did eventually. Finally, Charla grunted at Liza and she started speaking. "We have to find a way to get outta here". Mo and Kellyn nodded, neglecting to mention that she had just stated the blindingly obvious. "I'm so glad I kept this place secret from the wild Charizard. Ashy – that's Ash's Pokemon – and Charla were the only ones I trusted with my hideout".
"Okay Liza, would you care to explain what the hell is going on around here?" asked Mo with a tinge of anger. It wasn't directed at her, but he was frustrated.
"Sorry Mo, of course. You have to understand that the valley has been free of trainers capturing Pokemon for centuries through an old agreement made between the Charizard and the elders of what used to be Violet Town. Recently, an army of Team Rocket Pokemon hunters raided Charicific, capturing at least twenty Charizard and escaping with them. The Charizard have taken it as a declaration of war from the humans. They don't trust me, Ashy or Charla anymore. The two have tried talking to them but also barely escaped with their lives. It's been three days and I'm scared the Charizard are going to start some sort of assault on Violet. They're preparing for something, I can tell. Only a few of the weaker ones are still flying around, the others have all gathered somewhere in their caves. Those still out are the guards, expendable for the greater good". She dropped her eyes in sadness, tears forming.
"Oh God", replied Mo. "This isn't going to end nicely is it?"
Kellyn also looked worried. "I know. This is bigger than anything I've ever faced before. The Styler was useless, they just smash it".
"I know – I tried too", remarked Mo. He suddenly remembered his call to Elita and looked at the phone record. "There's no signal in here but I managed to talk to Elita and get her to send water back-up, though I don't know how long that will take. None of the real powerful rangers are based in Violet because something so rarely happens that one trainee is enough when it does – seeing as it's usually a Pidgey getting lost or something". Mo remembered the episode with the Noctowl. Hardly dangerous stuff. "This is going to be hard for whoever it is who's in charge there". Not knowing what was going on in Violet, they decided to sleep and think of what to do the next morning.
During their rather dry breakfast – Liza's supplies could not rely on water to function because of the dryness of the air – they decided that a run to Violet City would be the best option. Liza would stay back and report from the cave using Mo's phone, even if it did mean going into dangerous territory to get a signal, while the rangers rode on the backs of the two Charizard to get to the city as quickly as possible. They would rely on the element of surprise, but unfortunately this meant going at dusk when the wild Pokemon's eyes weren't so good at picking out detail.
After a whole day of lying around and doing nothing, the sun finally began to set. Kellyn got on Charla and Mo on Ashy with Houndoom curled up in front. The two Charizard knew when their weakest moment was and left at exactly the right time to escape any enemy patrols. All went well for about a few minutes, but they were spotted by a roaming sentry who decided to report his sight instead of challenging them. The Charizard elders, seeing this as a challenge towards their hunting force, decided to attack Violet City there and then. It didn't take long for the rangers to notice. Kellyn, turning back to see if they were being followed, noticed the swarm of winged shapes following them in the distance.
"Mo! Look behind you! Are they after us or after something else? I can't tell!"
"Who or whatever they're after isn't important right now, they're flying in an aggressive 'V'-formation and in the same direction as us.. That's all we need to know!"
The two Charizard landed in front of the Pokemon Center and the rangers jumped off, immediately running in. Kellyn started shouting:
"Everybody listen to me!". The people in the Pokemon Center fell silent. "There is a swarm of Charizard coming here, and they are not happy with us humans. I suggest that you hide in the center's cellar. If you have a flying Pokemon large enough, by all means leave, but quickly. We are going to try to stop them. If anyone wants to help us, it would be much appreciated if you protected this place and a few others that we'll organize in a minute. Any volunteers? We do not have much time!"
Immediately, everybody started babbling and a few simply ran out and flew off, leaving mostly scared children behind. This was one of the first stations for new Johto trainers, they didn't have Pokemon powerful enough to battle Charizard yet or fly away. To Mo's surprise there was one taller and older girl who remained quiet as the others panicked. The two saw each other, smiled and nodded. At least he could count on her.
"Dawn! What are you doing here?", he asked.
"Fancy seeing you again! I'm here because I've never traveled around Johto before and I wanted a break from contests. And, it seems, I'm here to help you so no need to worry! Brock's here too somewhere," she answered in her always happy voice. The sirens in the background were the only giveaway that something was wrong.
Outside, Ashy and Charla gave a roar of warning. Nurse Joy had initiated the state of emergency, warned by the other rangers that something was up; all citizens had been ordered to stay inside and shut their windows or leave.
The Charizard were getting closer and Mo, Kellyn and Dawn had no idea what they were going to do. They ran outside and stood in a line, all watching the scene unfold before them in awe. The moonlight revealed the dark winged figures getting closer. Mo thought of the pictures he saw in the Osutarian history books taken during one of their big wars: the Charizard looked like groups of fighter planes.
"We don't have a chance if we take them all on", came Liza's voice. She had arrived on a now clearly exhausted injured Pidgeot, who was quickly found by Falkner who had been watching. He looked angrily at Mo before taking his precious bird inside, knowing he was not going to be of much help. He was, after all, the weakest gym leader of all four neighbouring regions. "We need to take out the leader of their pack. He's the one who's right at the front and predictably the strongest one."
"Well that shouldn't be too difficult then", remarked Mo. "Dawn, we'll need your Empoleon and any others that are good and powerful enough against fire". She nodded. "Where is Brock? His rock-types could bring some much-needed help".
Liza replied angrily. "Do you think this is going to be easy? His challengers to leadership are also his bodyguards. There is nearly no difference in their strength!". Mo knew she was right: he had read that Charizard only took leadership through honor, and that meant a battle with the leader. It sometimes took up to an entire day before a winner could be declared.
Finally, Brock arrived, lipstick smeared all over his face. "Sorry guys, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. The whole "we might not be alive anymore tomorrow" thing works really well on Nurse Joys and... Mo? Is that you?"
"It is. How you going? Listen, we'll catch up later. What Pokemon have you got with you?"
"I have Rhyperior and Sudowoodo. The others I left at home, seeing as I just wanted to show Dawn the area..." he shrugged embarrassed. "Of course they're at your service".
Mo smiled. Rhyperior had only been a result of Brock being so impressed by one in a battle that he decided he needed one. Sudowoodo was an old friend by now, and Mo knew it was reliable.
Houndoom, Empoleon, Pachirisu, Rhyperior, Sudowoodo, and we're taking on an army? Great. At least I have two powerful Charizard on my side too. His phone rang. It was the boss.
"Elita? Where's our back-up?" he asked angrily.
"We convinced some migrating Pelippers to come and give you a hand, they should be there soon," she answered.
"Migrating Pelippers? Are you serious? We need more trainers, we need more rangers, not untrained effing wild animals you dumb b***h!". Mo regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Elita was quiet, clearly disturbed by his outburst. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just that these Charizard are on the warpath, and they'll be here in about five minutes. I hope the Pelippers really are as close as you say".
Elita was audibly relieved. It took a lot to shake as cold a woman as that, but she had never thought that Mo had it in him to be angry, ever. "Apology accepted. Hang in there guys. The one bringing the Pelippers is the junior ranger in charge of Violet City. All our elite units are in action elsewhere, Team Rocket are really making life hell these days. As I speak some of the others are freeing some Charizard Giovanni had captured. They're near New Bark Town. Do you think these cases are related?"
"They most definitely are. Get them to send the freed Charizard here as quickly as possible. This could help a lot. Okay gotta go". Mo and the others felt a twinge of hope. The freed Charizard could tell the story of their release and hopefully convince the others to end their raid. The group huddled together and formed their plan.
As predicted, the leader of the pack arrived at the head of the spearhead. It flew to the right and started circling the City in a counter-clockwise direction. The others followed or circled slightly higher in the opposite direction. The defenders of the city were few in number, but they all stood at the top of the gym, which was situated on a tall tower in the middle, allowing them to see everything. The outlines of the threatening Pokemon could be seen very clearly. None of the team were willing to fire first, in case the Charizard decided to leave. It was not to be.
The first Fire Blast lit up the dark sky and melted the windows of a nondescript see-through office tower. The molten glass dripped down into the road and the room was alight. With that, all of them started attacking random buildings in the hope of finding someone to kill. It was Dawn who started to put the plan into action, having followed the movements of the leader and acting when it was close..
"Empoleon, Hydro Pump on the leader, Pachirisu use Thunder on it!". The two attacks combined to make a devastating combo, and the unsuspecting leader would have been hit had its bodyguard not seen the attack first and taken the attack. The first bodyguard crashed down with a trail of black smoke, but now the team had their attention. "Okay, so that means it's plan B now right?" said Brock.
The leader seemed to indicate to its minions that it wanted to have a little fun with the defenders. It fired the most powerful Ember at them Mo had ever seen. Thousands of flame darts flew out of its mouth, all of them landing on and around Mo, Kellyn, Liza, Dawn and Brock and causing stinging pain. The humans ran for cover.
The Dark Pulse hit the next bodyguard by surprise – it had expected the defenders to be bracing for impact. It didn't know that Houndoom could ignore fire attacks, and went down with a crash. By now the city looked like one gigantic blaze. The Charizard were not destroying everything, just showing their might at the moment, but this could change. They specifically only attacked the tops of buildings even though they knew that hitting the bottom would be far more effective.
It was Kellyn who saw the boy running through the streets first. He was being followed by two of the winged beasts who were enjoying the chase, missing him by inches with little Flamethrowers for fun. He hopped onto Charla and showed her the child. She immediately flew down and chased after them.
Meanwhile Mo and Houndoom concentrated their attacks on the bodyguards while Dawn tried to take out the leader, firing the double-attack again and again. Empoleon and Pachirisu were getting tired but this was not a trainer battle – they could put more effort into it. Brock's Pokemon were still hidden, waiting for the right moment to be used. Liza and Ashy also watched, unsure what to do for now.
Kellyn and Charla caught up with the chasing Charizard, catching the first one by surprise with a Focus Punch in the spine, making it crash into the ground in a cloud of debris and dust. The other turned in surprise and was hit square in the jaw by the Dragon Claw that immediately followed, also getting knocked out instantly.
"Get on here kid! Now!" shouted Kellyn at the frightened boy. He complied, hanging on for dear life as they made their way back to the Pokemon Center. It wasn't going to be that easy: other Charizard had seen the commotion and were quick to fire a few Flamethrowers in their direction, only missing thanks to Charla's dodging skills. They flew through the streets between the skyscrapers as cars hit by attacks exploded next to them. There were other people in the streets intent on defending their property from the attackers. Usually the worried parents of families out with their old Pokemon. Battles were taking place everywhere all of a sudden. Kellyn realized that the people had seen that someone was fighting back and had decided to join in. It meant there were far more distractions for the Charizard. Unfortunately not everyone was winning. He saw a woman's spine clearly snapped as she was hit from behind by a Steel Wing, he saw dead or injured Pokemon lying in the streets, in some cases charred beyond recognition. Only very few were Charizard.
The city's battle could be heard from far away: the roars of of Pokemon, the screams of people, the explosions caused by attacks and even, once in a while, the sound of hissing steam as water hit fire. The Pelippers didn't need instructions on where to go figured the rookie ranger, finally seeing the city. They weren't far now.
Kellyn and Charla arrived at the Pokemon Center where he threw the child off. "Get in now! We'll cover you!". Charla swooped around and now faced three Charizard who had been following them. Two opened their mouths and blew fire at her, the other decided to go down and grab the child. Kellyn, not willing to let this happen, jumped off Charla as she took the damage-dealing hits and landed on top of the escaping Charizard. "Not so fast!". It clearly disapproved and started thrashing about. The kid was thrown off and ran inside.
Kellyn took the smoke grenade he had clipped to his belt, armed it and threw it into the roaring Charizard's mouth before leaping off again. This time he fell ten feet before hitting the ground hard, and he watched as his opponent struggled to breathe and finally collapsed with dark smoke coming out of its mouth. "Sorry", he said simply. He watched as Charla battered the other two into submission and then hopped on her back, wanting to help out his friends at the gym.
Brock finally decided he had seen enough and sent out Rhyperior with Sudowoodo. The two started hurling large chunks of concrete they ripped off the building at some Charizard, whose attacks didn't do much damage at all when they retaliated. As they continued to fight, Brock realized that more and more were coming towards the gym and just watching, which could only mean one thing: that people had stopped fighting in the city.
Kellyn arrived back to find Ashy was protecting the perimeter from other Charizard getting too close. It was using Dragon Claws, Slashes and fire attacks to beat them back, and there were many trying to take a Crunch out of a human. Just as he was about to give Charla back to Liza, the Pokemon was struck in the belly from underneath. The leader had plunged its claws into her and ripped out whatever innards he could. She was dead almost instantly. Liza screamed in horror. Ashy saw what happened and became enraged, the flame on his tail becoming larger than Mo had seen on any Charizard before - it was bigger than the delirious Pokemon. The eyes turned bright red and it began to brutally beat, Crunch, Slash and burn his way through to the leader. Until then he had held back from killing those who until so recently he had considered brothers and sisters. All of the Charizard getting in his way were no match, going down in one or two quick hits.
"Everyone be careful! Ashy is going to keep kicking ass until that leader is dead!" warned Mo to those around him. Everyone stopped fighting and watched as yet another one of the bodyguards had its throat slashed open. Flames billowed out of the gash as it spiraled to the ground and crashed. Dawn ran to the side and looked down, appalled at the scene below.
A Charizard, seeing her exposed for the first time, swooped down and opened its mouth, ready for human flesh. Kellyn noticed this and time seemed to slow down as he shouted a warning at her and ran as fast as he could to throw himself off the edge right into its gaping jaws. Dawn looked to the side in surprise and froze as she saw the ranger sacrificing himself for her. It used Crunch on him instead, tearing through his flesh and breaking his bones. It took away his lifeless body and landed on a nearby rooftop in preparation for its feast. As it was about to start a Hydro Pump hit it from above, knocking it out. The others cheered as they saw the hundreds of Pelipper arrive at the scene, all of them beating back the Charizard. Dawn was screaming in anguish at the sight of Kellyn on the opposite roof. In the resulting confusion Pachirisu was hit by a Fire Blast and knocked out. Empoleon fired the Hydro Pumps at the now losing Charizard. A Pelipper landed next to Dawn and she hopped on, taking her starter Pokemon with her.
The rookie ranger joined Mo. "Sorry we're late sir!"
"There'll be time for all this excuses Rapidash-crap later! We need to sort this out!" replied Mo.
Sudowoodo hit the ground, exhausted and burned. Rhyperior was still firing rocks around, but the Charizard numbers were finally dwindling.
The Charizard leader was fleeing from Ashy, clearly intimidated by his fit of rage. Liza was huddled in a corner crying, unable to do anything but sob. Dawn was on the other side of the roof, checking on Kellyn. The Pelipper were doing their job excellently, putting out fires, fighting Charizard and even protecting the wounded people and Pokemon in the streets. The rookie ranger went off again, trying to find people to help, and Mo surveyed the firestorm in the city. Suddenly, he heard Houndoom bark a warning and turned around: there stood the Charizard Ashy had saved him from before. It had scars on its body from the Seismic Toss and a missing tooth from the stomp, but was more than willing to fight. It walked closer to him and Houndoom barked at it to go away.
"Houndoom, use Faint Attack", ordered Mo. His Pokemon tried to distract the Charizard and hit it, but failed and was batted to the side by the opponent's back of the claws. Already exhausted from the earlier fight, Houndoom collapsed. The Charizard slowly moved towards Mo, who realized no one could see him where he was. He was alone, against an angry Charizard. Suddenly, it leaped forwards and grabbed a hold of his shoulders, sinking its claws in. It was looking him in the eyes, enjoying its revenge. Mo was pinned, there was nothing he could do. He tried to kick but he knew it barely affected his assailant. It breathed hot air onto his face, singing his eyebrows. It opened its mouth as wide as it could and was about to bite down when Houndoom attacked again from the side, Crunching into the beast's neck. The Charizard was in fact still weak and it succumbed to the dark Pokemon's assault.
"Phew, that was way too close Houndoom. Thanks so much!" said Mo, struggling to get up and bleeding from deep wounds in his shoulders. His Pokemon promptly collapsed again.
As he got up, Mo saw more Charizard coming from the distance. "Oh no", he said aloud to no one in particular. Luckily, these were the recently freed ones, and they quickly arrived and convinced the other Charizard to stop the assault. All of them stopped fighting and started to leave in the direction of the valley again, apart from two. They were flying in circles through the sky. Ashy was still chasing the leader and occasionally beams of fire could be seen. They were very high up. After a short time, Ashy finally outmaneuvered the leader and grabbed a hold of him from behind. The leader, knowing what was coming, was thrashing about trying to get loose, but that was never going to happen. Ashy flew in a loop twice before charging at full speed towards the ground. The leader roared in fear as they dropped faster and faster to earth. Ashy began to spin with his doomed enemy, as if preparing to drill his opponent into the ground. Just before they hit the concrete Ashy let go and swooped back up. The crash caused a huge cloud of dust and flying debris, and the winner hovered above, ready for the leader to come out of the crater. It didn't. He had avenged his love.
The Pelipper swarm put out the rest of the flames and aided in carrying the wounded to the hospital or Pokemon Center. Mo went down to the street below and watched the scene before him. Never had he seen so much suffering. Never had his lack of more Pokemon, since as a ranger he was allowed only one, impaired him so much. Never had he failed in protecting Pokemon as badly as he had today. He called Elita. "It's over".
"I know, I've been told already by the rookie. You might want to congratulate him".
"I didn't mean the attack, and I won't congratulate him. Today was an epic failure. I mean my career with the Rangers, it's over".
"What? But Mo-". He hung up, sat down and began to weep. A photographer took the picture.
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"And it was true, I did leave the Rangers", finished Mo, sitting on a stool next to the bunks.
"But what about Kellyn?" asked Faye. "Was he alright?"
"I'm afraid he died of his wounds two weeks later", sighed Mo. "He never regained consciousness for very long, and as you can imagine Dawn was devastated that he had sacrificed himself for her. She was depressed for a long time".
"And Ashy?" inquired Phil.
"Ashy went back to Ash's. No one apart from Liza ever really called him that silly name and he went back to just being Charizard. He helped Ash win an immense amount of battles and gave Ash's children their starters whenever they came of age. Unlike their father, Ash's children all started with a Charmander because of this. Ashy never loved another Charizard as much as Charla, but he found strong partners to have strong babies with. It was his way of thanking Ash for the way he had been trained".
"Wow. And Liza?" continued Phil.
"The poor woman was close to killing herself. She stayed away from Charicific Valley for years, but eventually she went back. They welcomed her as if nothing had ever happened, and she lived the rest of her days out there. Team Rocket didn't try that trick again anyway after seeing what the Charizard had done to Violet City. Broken cities were bad for business". Mo stopped for a second, before he continued. "Thirty three people died that day, and at least double that were injured. Fifty two Pokemon died and many, many more were severely injured".
"Well I mean we saw the monument in Violet City but we never realized how tough that day was. No wonder the statue is in the shape of a ranger. It's in honor of Kellyn isn't it? And who was that rookie ranger?". The kids really were curious.
"That rookie ranger was none other than Max, who you may know as the brother of famous coordinator May". This stunned the two kids. These days Max was known as a politician, not a ranger.
"What did you do after that?" asked the two in unison.
"That, my dear grandchildren, is a story for another day. Get some sleep, you're leaving tomorrow". With that the old man got up slowly (wabbling from the alcohol) and walked out of the room, neglecting to turn off the light. The two kids were quiet, tired and moved by the story. Their grandad was a hero!
There you go! A lot more action in this one huh? Review if you like please :)